Makes you wonder with whom the blame is going to lie. The parents already tried to blame the coach for not supplying enough water, yet the ME said that he was not dehydrated.

Now the onus falls on the parents. Did they notify the school that their son was taking an amphetamine? Especially considering he was engaging in a very physically demanding sport such as football? I played HS football in a cold climate and with all the equipment on, it's pretty easy to get overheated even in 50 degree weather....and that was without amphetamines. I think it's quite possible that the Adderall was a factor, but is it to "blame"?

We'll see how this plays out.

stillfightin

03-10-09, 04:54 PM

Same thing happens with many substances - steroids, ephedrine etc... they are isolated incidents.

ADHDTigger

03-10-09, 06:06 PM

I would be more interested in seeing the opinion of the ME who did the autopsy and signed off on the cause of death. This opinion is exactly that- an opinion. The one that will hold up best in court will be the ME's. The state pays for that one, not the players in the case- the coach facing jail time and potentially financial loss.

Genetic predisposition may have also played a significant role.

ecu20

03-11-09, 04:23 AM

There are many people playing sports on these substances without dying around the united states. One of my past Aptartment roommates used to run 100+ miles each week on college competing track cross country primarily (yes it's 100+ miles, over 10 miles a day minimum to keep up with the required training). He takes adderall and has had no problem with that.

I also knew football players back in highschool. About 20% of them were on adderall, and practices were brutal.

None of the people I know have died from it, and i'm sure it's a usual occurance to have players on stim meds.

The adderall CAN cause death, due to heart problems and body temperature (some people experiencing flushing and pallor. Some can experience reduced perspiration as a result of said side effects.

I would think amphetamine would contribute to deaths most likely based on causing a lack of oxygen flow due to pallor, hypoventilation, etc. When the body gets warmer, it tries to warm itself down, causing problems with an already faster and harder beating heart that needs the oxygen that may not be reaching the heart in sufficient amounts.

Many many people take these drugs both illegally, and legally, and sometimes in single doses higher than what this kid was taking in total in 2-3 months without causing death. Don't blame adderall just because he took it, blame it only if you know it CAUSED IT.

If an obese person dies, many automatically assume/blame obesity. Just like a normal, healthy person with healthy blood tests dying. He must not have died due to natural costs because he didn't have any risk factors right?

Many many people jump to conclusions due to flawed logic. You would think that higher icecream sales causes a spike in homicides nationally, then only after sales have lowered, homicide rates slowly decline. Correlation, yes. But it is because of an unseen variable. Summer time is the main cause of elevated homicides, because people are outside interacting etc, and there goes the homicide rates!

Correlation does not imply causation!! :)

Wisefolly

03-12-09, 01:00 PM

Makes you wonder with whom the blame is going to lie. The parents already tried to blame the coach for not supplying enough water, yet the ME said that he was not dehydrated.

Now the onus falls on the parents. Did they notify the school that their son was taking an amphetamine? Especially considering he was engaging in a very physically demanding sport such as football? I played HS football in a cold climate and with all the equipment on, it's pretty easy to get overheated even in 50 degree weather....and that was without amphetamines. I think it's quite possible that the Adderall was a factor, but is it to "blame"?

We'll see how this plays out.

You can certainly be dehydrated and not know it. Dehydration can cause confusion, and often people don't feel thirsty and don't realize there is a problem when they are severely dehydrated. The coach should have made sure that there was plenty of water available, and should look out for signs of dehydration, including confusion among the team members which is not always readily recognizable.

As for how much of a part the Adderall played, it is hard to say...

FinallyAnswered

03-12-09, 04:59 PM

You can certainly be dehydrated and not know it. Dehydration can cause confusion, and often people don't feel thirsty and don't realize there is a problem when they are severely dehydrated. The coach should have made sure that there was plenty of water available, and should look out for signs of dehydration, including confusion among the team members which is not always readily recognizable.

As for how much of a part the Adderall played, it is hard to say...

The medical examiner said that he wasn't dehydrated, so I think we have to take his opinion on that. The player may not have known if he was dehydrated, but the person performing the autopsy knows for sure.

Again, I don't think Adderall was anymore to "blame" for his death than we can blame a Big Mac for causing a heart attack. It may have been a factor, but so were many other things.

Wisefolly

03-12-09, 08:51 PM

The medical examiner said that he wasn't dehydrated, so I think we have to take his opinion on that. The player may not have known if he was dehydrated, but the person performing the autopsy knows for sure.

Again, I don't think Adderall was anymore to "blame" for his death than we can blame a Big Mac for causing a heart attack. It may have been a factor, but so were many other things.

Gotcha. I didn't read the article, I was just going on the comment about the parents saying the coach didn't provide enough water. Also, I agree with you.

ecu20

03-13-09, 02:24 AM

Again, I don't think Adderall was anymore to "blame" for his death than we can blame a Big Mac for causing a heart attack. It may have been a factor, but so were many other things.